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Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Are Drinkers Smarter?

A recent study suggests that intelligent people consume more alcohol than people of lesser intelligence. The National Child Development Study in the United Kingdom and the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health in the United States collected intelligence data on children under 16 years of age and then followed up on the subjects' drinking habits as adults. The study was reported by Discovery News.

Childhood intelligence, measured before the age of 16, was categorized in five cognitive classes, ranging from "very dull," "dull," "normal," "bright" and "very bright.

The Americans were revisited seven years later. The British youths, on the other hand, were followed in their 20s, 30s and 40s. Researchers measured their drinking habits as the participants became older.

More intelligent children in both studies grew up to drink alcohol more frequently and in greater quantities than less intelligent children. In the Brits' case, "very bright" children grew up to consume nearly eight-tenths of a standard deviation more alcohol than their "very dull" cohorts.

Researchers controlled for demographic variables -- such as marital status, parents' education, earnings, childhood social class and more -- that may have also affected adult drinking. Still, the findings held true: Smarter kids were drinking more as adults.

The study did not look at the types of alcohol consumed. But, we all know that beer drinkers are smarter don't we?

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